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Radio Ethiopia was the follow-up record to Smith's widely acclaimed debut Horses. In interviews surrounding the album's release, Smith explained that she chose producer Jack Douglas in hopes of making the album a commercial success. The album was negatively received when it was released and Smith was attacked by critics for what they perceived to be laziness, self-indulgence and selling out.

The title track of the album is one of Smith's most notorious songs, almost legendary for appearing to be "10 minutes of noise". Critics often described live renditions of the song as negative moments of Smith's concerts. Patti herself spoke highly of the track and of how the lyrics refer to Arthur Rimbaud's dying wishes. Arguments both for and against the song have been advanced by critics, fans and music listeners over whether the song truly is an example of the Patti Smith Group's boundary-pushing or merely self-indulgence. Critics in negative reviews cited that Douglas' production placed more emphasis on creating a heavy sound through numerous guitar parts which smothered Smith's vocals[2] and, at times, lamented that all of the album's songs were originals of the group (Smith co-wrote much of the album with bassist Ivan Kral, the band member keenest for commercial success [3]). "Ain't It Strange" and "Distant Fingers", the latter co-written with Smith's long-time boyfriend Allen Lanier, had both been staples of the Group's concerts long before the recording of Horses.

In a contemporary review of Radio Ethiopia, Rolling Stone critic Dave Marsh felt that Smith "seems to lack the direction necessary to live up to her own best ideas."[8] In Creem, Richard Meltzer was more enthusiastic and wrote that "there really no way I'm gonna be anything but thrilled to my shorthairs by a Patti LP and this one's no exception."[9] Music critic Robert Christgau stated that the album's sound "delivers the charge of heavy metal without the depressing predictability; its riff power has the human elan of a band that is still learning to play."[6]

AllMusic critic William Ruhlmann retrospectively described Radio Ethiopia as "a schizophrenic album in which the many elements that had worked so well together on Horses now seemed jarringly incompatible" and also noted that the Patti Smith Group "learned their craft and competence set in and lost some of the unself-consciousness that had made their music so appealing."[1]